Poll

Agriculture

Fortunately, our weather has been pretty nice to allow for some yard and farm chores to get taken care of recently. I’ve noticed a lot of land clearing, brush burning, and tree cutting going on in both residential and farm properties. It is a great time for these chores to get taken care of, so it’s no surprise to hear the harmonious buzz of chainsaws echoing through subdivisions and farms throughout the county.

The 2017 Kentucky Small Ruminant Grazing Conference is Saturday, February 18 and registration starts at 7:30 a.m. at the Hardin County Extension Office. Three hours of continuing education is available for veterinarians. Registration fee is $35. For program and registration info please visit: www.rcars.ca.uky.edu/small-ruminant-grazing-conference

If your New Year resolutions have already gone by the wayside, try a new approach. Instead of making large and broad resolutions, try focusing on small changes that you can add to your daily life. Try one new approach per month and keep adding on for the rest of the year.

Tall fescue, specifically Kentucky 31, is a cool-season grass that is widely grown throughout Kentucky and the eastern United States, because it is resistant to many unfavorable conditions including drought tolerance and insect resistance. However, the very reason for its resiliency is also its Achilles heel. It contains a harmful fungal endophyte that causes fescue toxicosis in cattle and horses. Affected animals get sick, have reduced weight gains, reproductive problems and other issues.

Fresh Start Farms of Hodgenville took state championship honors in the no-till wheat division at the Kentucky Commodity Conference held recently in Bowling Green. Ryan Bivens and crew planted Southern States 8340 for a yield of 115.94 bushels per acre.

The Kentucky Commodity Conference is the annual meeting of soybean, corn and small grain growers in the state.

The LaRue County Conservation District will be hosting a hay bale wrapping demonstration starting at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, February 10 at their office located at 306 West Main Street. Training is required to rent the equipment, if you haven’t been to an earlier demonstration you should make plans to attend this one. For more information contact the LaRue County Conservation District at 270-358-3132.

Caleb Ragland of Magnolia was recognized as the Kentucky Soybean Association’s Top Recruiter for fiscal year 2016.

“KSA is a membership-based, policy-focused organization,” Ragland said. “The more members an organization has, the more power it wields. When we go to Frankfort or to Washington, D.C. with an issue, we need the power of a strong membership base behind us.”